The Silent Suspect by Nell Pattison (epub e ink reader .TXT) 📕

There was complete silence for a moment as Lukas stared at me, then looked down and slipped his hands underneath his thighs. He shook his head, over and over, continuing to sit on his hands to show his defiant refusal to answer any of their questions. He started to rock slightly in his chair, his movements getting more and more frantic, until Forest stood up suddenly. Her chair crashed to the floor behind her, making me jump.

‘Mr Nowak, we have enough evidence to hold you, so I’m not going to waste any more of my time on you. We’ve given you a chance to give us a statement. Next time we question you, it would be in your best interest to cooperate.’ She turned and stalked out of the room, leaving Singh to sort out an officer to escort Lukas back to a cell.

‘What was that all about?’ he asked me quietly as we walked down the corridor a couple of minutes later.

‘I have no idea.’ I didn’t want to tell Singh how worried I was about this turn of events. ‘He wouldn’t speak to Sasha last night, either.’

‘Sasha?’

‘Sasha Thomas,’ I reminded him. He’d met her the same time I had. ‘She’s his social worker.’

He nodded. ‘We might need to speak to her, find out some more about his background and state of mind.’ He paused, then gave me a smile that almost looked a little shy. ‘You look really good, Paige. I mean, well. You look really well.’ He gave an embarrassed cough and I felt myself blush.

‘Thanks, you’re looking well yourself.’

We reached the door, when I remembered why I’d come in that morning.

‘I need to give a statement,’ I told Singh before he had a chance to usher me out.

‘Why?’ he asked, looking puzzled, but then I heard a door bang and someone yell my name, and my heart sank. Forest stamped down the corridor, brandishing a piece of paper at me.

‘You’re a witness! Why the hell didn’t you say anything? You can’t interpret for this case if you’re a witness. It’s a bloody good job Nowak didn’t say a damn thing.’

‘I tried to tell you when we went into the room,’ I replied through gritted teeth. ‘You kept interrupting me. I thought I’d been asked to come in to give my statement, not to interpret for an interview.’

Singh looked between me and Forest. ‘You’re a witness?’

I nodded. ‘I was there last night.’ I explained that Lukas had called me, and started to talk about what had happened, but Forest held a hand up.

‘Save it for the statement,’ she said. ‘Rav, you sort it out. I don’t have time for this,’ she snarled, then turned and marched away up the corridor again.

‘She gets worse,’ I muttered once I was sure Forest was out of earshot. She had always seemed to resent my presence during cases involving deaf victims or suspects, and had relished the opportunity to fire me, once.

‘You don’t know half of it,’ he replied, the look on his face making me think I shouldn’t ask. ‘Come on, let’s go and get this statement sorted,’ he continued, giving me a smile. ‘Then maybe we can get a drink later?’

I nodded and returned his smile. ‘That sounds nice.’

Before we started I got in touch with Sasha and explained what was happening. I checked with Singh how much I could tell her, but as Lukas himself would be able to tell her all of it, he told me I was free to keep her informed.

Being deaf herself, Sasha was naturally assigned any social work clients who were deaf, especially BSL users, because she was more likely to build up a positive rapport with someone without the need for an interpreter. I was there to interpret when she met her hearing clients, and also for regular meetings with her colleagues. I had been working for her for three days a week since January, and it was working well for both of us: I had a regular salary, as well as regular working hours, and she had the benefit of knowing when she would have access to an interpreter and could arrange her diary accordingly.

Singh looked deep in thought, and I was about to ask what was bothering him when he shook himself, and explained the procedure for giving a statement.

I went through everything that had happened, from when I’d received the phone call from Lukas, through to when he was arrested. I didn’t include my conversation with Lukas in the hospital. For all I knew, he’d told me he knew who was responsible to manipulate me, to make sure I didn’t think he was guilty. In reality, I didn’t know what to think. Was he trying to use me to make it look like he was innocent, when all along he’d murdered his wife and set his house on fire? If he was innocent, why would he refuse to say anything to the police?

Chapter 5

This is completely ridiculous, Sasha insisted. There is no way Lukas would have hurt Nadia. I can’t believe it!

The two of us were sitting in a meeting room with Singh, a couple of hours after Lukas’s interview.

‘I’m sorry, Ms Thomas,’ Singh replied, indicating the file on the desk in front of him. ‘A neighbour heard them arguing, and told our officers that it happens on a regular basis. Nobody else was seen entering the house, so he is the prime suspect in Nadia’s murder. Lukas stormed out, probably went to show his face at the pub, had a couple of drinks to calm his nerves, then it seems he went back to set the house on fire. He’s covered in bruises but won’t say how he got them. The fact that he won’t give a comment at all, even to protest his innocence, doesn’t look good for him.’

I interpreted for Sasha and she slumped back in her chair and raised her hands to the ceiling.

This doesn’t